Drain digger



1952 G. M. NEEDHAM 3,02

DRAIN DIGGER Filed NOV. 20, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mvsmox Gideon M. Need/20m Feb. 20, 1962 G. M. NEEDHAM DRAIN DIGGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed NOV. 20, 1958 (a: law

'INVENTOR n bbx on M. Need/2am 3,021,621 DRAIN BIGGER Gideon M. Needham, 01d Trap, N.C. Fiied Nov. 20, 1958, Ser. No. 775,197 1 Claim. (Cl. 37-92) This invention relates generally to excavating equipment and more particularly to new and useful improvements in drain diggers and the like.

Previously in this art, drain, ditch and other types of diggers which have vertical adjustments for changing the digging depth of the machine had to be adjusted manually. This procedure was fine for the old types of diggers which are relatively light. However, the modern type of digger is so heavy as to render this an extremely diflicult task. Accordingly, it became necessary to use some type of power means for varying the digging depth of the digging machine.

The coastal region of the United States has a low, flat terrain, and almost all of the crops grown in this section are planted in highseed beds or rows which are actually longitudinal mounds. These rows are usually spaced about 42 inches apart and the fields may vary in width so as to have from 30 to 100 rows and vary in length from 300 to 2,000 feet. A fairly deep ditch is provided on either side to carry water off to a swamp, creek or other water outlet. Drains or trenches are provided across the fields to communicate the ditches. When digging th se drains, the digging equipment must traverse these rows or beds and the tractor and digging device are constantly bouncing up and down which results in a nonlevel drain being dug.

The digging machines which are not of the self-propelled type must be connected to a towing vehicle. Therefore, any type of power means used to change the digging depth of the machine, would necessarily derive its power from the tractor and be connected thereto. However, these types of connections are usually fairly rigid, and if the towing vehicle should travel over rough terrain, such as a field having high seed beds, upon engagement of the digger with a mound of earth, a rock, or some other projection in the earth, either the rigid connection would transfer the resulting jumping or bouncing motion to the tractor and make it in turn jump, or the digger would be kept down by the weight of the tractor and would engage the projection with the usual result being a breakage of parts, jamming of the device, or nonlevel drains being dug.

With these defects of the prior devices in mind, the primary object of this invention is to provide a digging machine which .is improved over the others previously known in that it is more useful and versatile and will stand up in use for extremely long periods of time even when constantly used on relatively rough and uneventerrain.

Another object of this inventionis to provide a digger of the character described which may be connected to power means on a towing vehicle for adjusting the height of the digger.

Still a further object of thisinvention is to provide a special connection between the power means of the towing vehicle and the digger, so that relative vertical movement between the digger and the towing vehicle may take place, so as to allow for the jumps and hops made by the digger when engaging relatively hard earth containing many rocks, or upon hitting a projection.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a relatively simple and inexpensive device and yet one which is exceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

Briefly, the foregoing objects and others ancillary thereto are accomplished according to a preferred embodiment of the invention by a Y-shaped frame which is 3,2l,h2l Patented Feb. 20, 1962 adapted to have the ends of its legs pivotally connected to the towing vehicle. At the other end of the frame, a J- shaped guide shoe is mounted for a vertical adjustment. A rotatable digging element is located forwardly of the guide shoe and, by means of a universal, is driven from the power take-off of the towing vehicle. The towing vehicle has a hydraulic mechanism for lifting or lowering a pair of lift arms. A pair of flexible connections, such as chains, extend from the ends of these lift arms to the digger frame so that the height of the frame may be adjusted by the angular position of the lift arms. The use of chains, or other suitable flexible connections, is extremely advantageous, since the up and down movement of the digger will not affect the tractor, for the chains will merely depend loosely from the link arms when this happens.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together 'with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures and in which:

FIGURE 1,is a perspective view of a self-propelled towing vehicle with the drainv digger attached thereto, and illustrating the interconnection therebetween;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the digger alone illustrating the lift arms and the connection therebetwcen, and

FIGURES 3 and 4 are rear and front perspective views, respectively, of a modified form of digging element. v

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a digging machine it), in accordance with the present invention, is shown as mounted on a standard type'of farm tractor T. The digging machine 10 comprises a Y-shaped frame member 12. of two piece construction. Each section of the frame includes straight portions 14 and 16 which are fastened together by any suitable means to form the single leg of the Y, and outwardly inclined end portions 18 and 20, respectively, which form the diverging legs of the Y. On the free end of joined members 14 and 16, is connected a guide shoe 21 which, when the digger is in use, slides along the ditch or trench which has been formed by the digging element.

A fixed plate 22 is rigidly connected to the end of the single leg of the frame 12 and a removable plate 24 is connected in spaced parallel relation thereto by means of bolts 26 which fasten the plates in proper position. The guide shoe 21 is generally J-shaped and constructed of a straight portion 30 and a curved, ground engaging shoe portion 32. The straight portion 30 is sandwiched between the plates 22 and 24 and also disposed between the laterally spaced bolts 26. The plates 22, 24 are then pressed toward each other by the bolts 26 so that the guide shoe is secured in any desired vertical position with respect to frame 12. It is to be noted, thatthe height of the curved or groundengaging shoe portion 32 of the guide shoe with respect to the frame, or more particularly the digging element thereon, will determine the depth of the ditch or trench dug by the machine.

A digging element or digging means 34 is rotatably carriedv by the frame and disposed forwardly of the guide shoe 21. This digging element is constructed of a cirupon angular movement of shaft 44 The rear free end of shaft 40 is mounted within a bearing 41 at the lower end of a V-shaped bracket 42 depending from the rearward portion of the frame. Another bracket 46 depends from the frame at a position spaced forwardly of the bracket 42 and digging element 34, and has a bushing 44 mounted on the lower end thereof in which the shaft 4% is journaled. A cross member 48 is connected between spaced legs 18 and 23 of the frame in order to give rigidity thereto, and to carry another bearing 28 for shaft 49. Of course, it will be realized that suitable collars may be provided on the shaft 40 and adjacent the various bushings and bearings so as to prevent axial movement of the shaft. The forward end 45 of the shaft 49 preferably is telescopic and connected by a universal joint 47 with a coupling sleeve 49 for removable connection to the power take-off shaft of a tractor T in the usual manner.

The tractor T has large rear wheels 50 and an axle housing 52 therebetween for rotatably engaging the axles of the wheels 50. The tractor further has a hydraulic motor 56 mounted thereon with a transverse shaft 58 extending outwardly therefrom and which is rotated thereby. A pair of lift arms 60 are connected by U bolts 62, or any other suitable type of connection, to rigidly engage shaft 58 and rotate therewith. A pair of flexible members 64, such as chains, are connected by couplings 65 to, and depend from, the free ends of lift arms 69 and are connected at their lower ends to eyes 66 formed on the spaced legs 18 and 29 of the main frame 12. As lift arms similar to the arms 60 are permanent parts of many tractors, the couplings 65 preferably are releasable to enable selective connection to and removal from the arms.

A pair of brackets 59 are connected to axle housing 52, and have extending legs 61 aflixed thereto. The brackets 59 are shown as being secured by U-bolts 67 but obviously they may be attached in any other way as by bolts tapped into the axle housings. The ends of these legs 6?; are pivotally connected to the spaced legs 18 and 2% of the Y-shaped frame by a pivotal connection 63. In this manner, the digger may be readily elevated for transport or it may be adjusted to any desired operating height by actuating motor 56 which turns shaft 58 and thus varies the angular position of lift arms 60. If the lift arms are moved upwardly, the frame 12 will swing up about pivots 63 and raise the frame. If the lift arms are moved downwardly, the frame 12 is lowered until the guide shoe 21 engages the ground, and further movement of the arms merely relaxes the flexible connections 64 so that no parts are damaged.

In operation, when it is desired to change the height of the digging element 34, it is merely necessary for an operator to hydraulically actuate the lift arms 60 to the correct position. If it is desired to raised the digging element, then the free ends of the lift arms 60 are raised, and the chains 64 lift the frame 12. Then, the bolts 26 may be loosened so that the guide shoe 21 may be positioned so as to engage the bottom of the ditch or trench at the correct level, thus assuring correct positioning of digging element 34 for cutting a ditch to the desired depth. The device may then be used in this position, and if the digging element 34 or the guide shoe 21 should engage some projections or rocks or other similar material, the digging frame 12 merely swings about the pivots 63, and because of the flexible connections 64, this motion will not be transmitted to the tractor, but will be allowed to be absorbed by the weight of the digger because of the chains 64.

It is readily evident that the present structure is preferable over the prior art devices wherein there Was a rigid connection between the digger frame and the tractor so that, upon engagement of the digging element with some type of hard surface, the digging frame either could not move upwardly because of the weight of the tractor,

thus causing breakage of parts, or would bounce up and down carrying the tractor therewith and unseating the driver. Even when digging connective drain trenches or ditches across fields having high seed beds, the tractor merely rolls up and down over the seed beds while the digger device is permitted by the chain connections to undulate behind the tractor with the guide shoe 21 maintaining a substantially uniform level of the bottom of the drain. Moreover, the single frame leg 1.4, 16 in no way interferes with the discharge of earth by the digger element 34.

Another and preferred form of digger element is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 as comprising a series of sets of blades disposed axially of the drive shaft 49. This element 34 comprises a flat plate 36 which preferably is square, and four blades 38' radiating axially and disposed immediately in front of the plate 36'. A second set of blades 38a is spaced axially in front of the blades 38, while a third set of blades 38b is spaced axially in front of the blades 38a. The blades 38a and 38b are rigidly braced by web portions 39, which portions may serve as a small or reduced back plate during operation.

The two sets of blades 33a and 38b are angularly offset relative to each other and also to the blades 33. While the forward sets of blades 38a and 38b may comprise any desired number, it has been found that two diametrically disposed blades in each set are the most effective and practical and the two blades 38a may bisect the angles between the blades 38' in one direction while the two blades 3322 are at right angles to the blades 33c and bisect the angles between the blades 38' in the other direction.

At the drive shaft 40 is disposed at an angle relative to ground level and as all of the blades are substantially the same length, the three sets of blades will dig successively slightly deeper according to the angle of the drive shaft 40. This relative digging depth of the sets of blades plus their relative misalignment reduces power consumption and also improves results in that the forward sets of blades 38a and 38b tend to break up the earth while discharging a portion thereof from the drain channel, whereas the four blades 38 clean out the drain channel and discharge substantially all of the broken up earth so that a relatively smooth and clean drain channel is produced.

Of course, the size of the digging element may vary according to the particular use, but for digging drain ditches across high seed bed fields, it has been found that each of the blades 38', 38a and 38b may be constituted by steel plates of an inch thick and 2 /2 inches wide by 6%. inches long, with a portion of the free ends of blades 38' extending beyond the back plate 36'. The forward blades 38a are spaced approximately 3 inches ahead of the blades 38' and the leading set of blades 3812 are spaced approximately 3 inches in front of the intermediate set 38a. Digging elements of the foregomg dimensions have proved most highly satisfactory in cutting drains connecting the shallow portions between high seed bed rows.

Although certain specific embodiments of the inventron have been shown and described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

A drain digger for attachment to and powered by a standard farm tractor having a power take-off shaft and lifting mechanism, comprising a rigid frame including two forwardly extending spaced arms, means at the forward free ends of said arms for pivotally connecting said arms to the rear portion of a towing tractor, a brace extending between said arms adjacent the forward free ends thereof, a bearing carried by said brace centrally of said frame, a bracket depending from the rear end of said frame and carrying a journal at the lower end thereof and aligned w.th said bearing, a shaft disposed longitudinally beneath said frame at an upward inclination toward the forward end thereof with the rear end of said shaft rotatably mounted in said journal and the forward end portion of said shaft rotatably mounted in said bearing, the forward end of said shaft including a telescopic portion connected by a universal joint with a coupling element for connection to a tractor power take-off shaft, digging means fixed on the rear end portion of said shaft immediately in front of said journal, a depth guide element mounted on the rear end of said frame behind said bracket for vertical adjustment relative to said frame, said depth guide element having a bearing portion for engaging the bottom of a ditch dug by sad digging means to maintain the latter at a generally uniform level, and lift members respectively connected to said frame arms at points spaced rearwardly from said connecting means and having means for attachment to the tractor lifting mechanism for raising and lowering said frame, said lift members being flexible to permit vertical movement of said frame by said depth guide element without reaction on the tractor lifting mechanism, and said digging means including three d'gging elements spaced axially of said shaft and each including radially extending flat blades lying in a plane including the shaft axis and of uniform length, whereby they engage the ground at successively lower depths corresponding to the inclination of said shaft, the rearmost said digging element including four equiangularly spaced blades and a back plate perpendicular to the shaft axis and rigidly fixed to the rear edges of said blades, said back plate having radial dmensions less than the length of said blades, and the other two digging elements each including two coplanar blades connected by Web portions perpendicular to said shaft and serving as a brace and back plate, the blades of said latter two elements being perpendicular to each other and disposed to bisect the angles between the blades of said rearmost element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,614,356 Foot Jan. 11, 1927 1,619,797 Martikainen Mar. 1, 1927 1,699,552 Turner et a1. Jan. 22, 1929 1,770,679 Turner July 15, 1930 2,364,367 Janke Dec. 5, 1944 2,542,474 Burchett Feb. 20, 1951 2,603,136 Thomas July 15, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 250,277 Switzerland Aug. 31, 1947 891,333 Germany Sept. 28, 1953 1,030,086 Germany May 14, 1958 

